Official caught accepting bribe to release funds for repair of girls' toilet at school

Barwani: The Lokayukta police in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district on Wednesday caught a government staffer allegedly accepting a Rs 5,000 bribe to release funds for the repair of a girls' toilet at a school, an official said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sunil Kumar Talan said a trap was laid in Rajpur town following a complaint from Jitendra Soni, the in-charge headmaster of the government primary school in Khatri Falia village.

Block Resource Coordinator Mahendra Singh Rathore was caught red-handed accepting an alleged bribe of Rs 5,000 from the complainant in front of an ATM.

The DSP said that the Tribal Welfare Department had approved Rs 20,000 for the repair of a toilet for girl students at the school, but the funds could not be released due to technical issues.

"According to Soni, given the daily problems faced by the students, he used his personal funds to get the toilet repaired within the stipulated timeframe.

"However, when he needed a completion certificate to receive this amount from the government treasury, Rathore and District Education Centre sub-engineer Ashwin Dagar demanded a bribe of Rs 5,000," the official said.

A case has been registered against both government officials under the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, he said, adding that the accused have not yet been arrested.

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.